Color as a Symbol and Symbolism in Toni Morrisons...

Use of Color as a Symbol in Beloved In Beloved, Toni Morrison portrays the barbarity and cruelty of slavery. She emphasizes the African American’s desire for a new life as they try to escape their past while claiming their freedom and creating a sense of community. In Beloved, Much of the characters’ pain occurs as they reconstruct themselves, their families, and their communities after the devastation of slavery (Kubitschek 115). Throughout the novel, Morrison uses color to symbolically represent a life complete with happiness, freedom, and safety, as well as involvement in community and family. In many scenes, Morrison uses color to convey a characters desire for such a life; while, in other instances, Morrison†¦show more content†¦She did not experience independence, freedom, safety nor a sense of community when she was a slave. However, after she was sold, she searched for color, or the life that she had wanted. For, â€Å"she had never had time to see, let alone enjoy it before† (M orrison 201). Enjoying every color that she could, trying to compensate for the time wasted as a slave, Suggs retreated to her room and concentrated on color. It â€Å"took her a long time to finish with blue, then yellow then green† (Morrison 201). Making explicit the absence of color while Suggs was a slave and then describing the way she relished the colors of her newly acquired freedom, Morrison conveys Suggs’s fulfillment of the life she had longed to have when she was a slave. Finally, as her life ended, Suggs was happy with the freedom, sense of community and family that she had achieved. Although Suggs lives this free-life for a period of time, eventually her family, community and sense of happiness fall apart. Before Suggs threw a party to celebrate her united family and new found happiness, she was venerated by the black community. Suggs was safe, free and thankful for her present life. After her celebration feast, when â€Å"Sethe was in jail with h er nursing baby...[and] her sons were holding hands in the yard, terrified of letting go,† Baby Suggs â€Å"just up and quit† (Morrison 177). Her life was fallingShow MoreRelatedToni Morrisons Beloved - Symbol and Symbolism of Color Essay977 Words   |  4 Pages The symbolic Use of Color in Belovednbsp;nbsp; In the novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison uses color to show the reactions of some of the main characters. Color represents many things in the book. Freedom is an example because once the slaves were free, they noticed the beautiful colors all over. They see that the world is not just black and white and two different races, there are many beautiful things that were unnoticed. When Baby Suggs was free, she was able to spread happiness and joy to theRead MoreRacism And Discrimination On African Americans1210 Words   |  5 Pagesher frequent use of symbolism.2 In The Bluest Eye, an extremely important symbol is blue eyes (Crayton 73). Blue eyes are used to symbolize racially based beauty standards and the power associated with whiteness (â€Å"Bluest† LitCharts). In the novel, society believes that if a person does not have white skin, he or she is not beautiful. Pecola Breedlove falls victim to this widespread belief and longs to possess blue eyes. In her world, blue eyes are far more than a simple eye color. 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She was a writer and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.† As a young child Angelou witnessed her parents’ divorce and she and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. While in Arkansas, she constantly experienced racism and discrimination, and she was able to translate the emotions that she felt, into her works. Toni MorrisonRead MoreAnalysis Of Toni Morrison s Beloved1200 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"We’ve all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on (Sirius Black) †. Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved dedicates her novel to the 60 million and more exposed to the darkness within the people set out to hurt them. The novel depicts how cruelty leads ex-slaves to make irrational decisions and shape the people they are at the end . The cruelty inflicted on one including but not limited to slavery causes a chain reaction of hatred, pain and suffering and theRead MoreAnalysis Of Toni Morrison s Beloved1200 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"We’ve all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on (Sirius Black) †. Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved dedicates her novel to the 60 million and more exposed to the darkness within the people set out to hurt them. The novel depicts how cruelty leads ex-slaves to make irrational decisions and shape the people they are at the end . The cruelty inflicted on one including but not limited to slavery causes a chain reaction of hatred, pain and suffering and the cycleRead MoreEssay on The Song of Solomon2983 Words   |  12 Pages Book Title Song of Solomon Author Toni Morrison Summary The first black boy ever born in Mercy Hospital in a town in Michigan comes into the world the day after an insurance agent named Robert Smith kills himself by trying to â€Å"fly† from the roof of the hospital across Lake Superior. The boys mother, Ruth, nurses him until he is eight or nine years old, thus earning him the ridiculous nickname Milkman. Milkman befriends an older boy named Guitar, visits his Aunt Pilate, and falls in love withRead MoreEudora Welty a Worn Path12166 Words   |  49 Pagesconversation, he refers to her as Granny, as the other characters do, all of whom are unwilling to look beyond Phoenixs age and see her as an individual. Phoenix Jackson Old Phoenix Jackson is the protagonist of the story. She is described in vivid colors, suggesting her lively nature: she wears a red rag in her hair and her skin is described as yellow, golden and copper. Her age is indicated by the way she moves—slowly, in small steps, with the assistance of a cane—and by the wrinkles on herRead MoreEudora Welty a Worn Path12173 Words   |  49 Pagesconversation, he refers to her as Granny, as the other characters do, all of whom are unwilling to look beyond Phoenixs age and see her as an individual. Phoenix Jackson Old Phoenix Jackson is the protagonist of the story. She is described in vivid colors, suggesting her lively nature: she wears a red rag in her hair and her skin is described as yellow, golden and copper. Her age is indicated by the way she moves—slowly, in small steps, with the assistance of a cane—and by the wrinkles on her